Leadership Transition at Berkshire Natural Resources Council

LEADERSHIP TRANSITION AT BERKSHIRE NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL AFTER 27 YEARS

PITTSFIELD – Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Inc., announced today that Tad Ames will depart the organization on December 31, 2017 after more than 27 years of service, the last 16 as president.

Ames said that he has made the decision to resign from BNRC in order to make a change in his professional career and to seek new opportunities.

“I am now in my mid-50s and I’ve reached an age and a stage in my professional life where I have the opportunity to create one more chapter,” he said. “It is not easy to leave a place and people whom I love so much, but I want to seize the opportunity to be part of another story. It’s time to pass leadership to a new leader to bring fresh energy to BNRC and to the Berkshire High Road’s next phase.

“I am extremely proud of everything that BNRC’s board and staff have achieved together. We are at a new high-water mark, and it’s been a joy to lead this growth and accomplishment,” Ames said.

During Ames’s tenure at the organization, BNRC has protected, for public use and enjoyment, over 18,000 acres, including popular reserves at the Hoosac Range, Basin Pond, Alford Springs, The Boulders, Mahanna Cobble, Clam River, Constitution Hill, Bob’s Way, and Steadman Pond.

The Council’s staff has been strengthened and grown from 2.5 full-time equivalents to 7.5 under Ames’s tenure.

In 2015, BNRC was awarded the Francis W. Sargent Conservation Award by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, the first time the award was presented to an organization.

Tim Crane, chairman of BNRC’s board of directors, said that Tad’s decision was a surprise.

“When Tad’s decision was shared with the Board there were tears in the eyes of most everyone in the room, as best as I could tell looking through my own. Tad is a loved colleague, boss, and leader and is leaving the organization with the gift of a strong and lasting legacy. As hard as it was to hear, Tad’s pursuit of his next chapter could not be better timed. The Berkshire High Road vision has been fully enabled as a result of our successful $5 million dollar capital campaign. It will be our next leader’s opportunity to build on this momentum at a time of strength and deliver the interconnected county-wide trail network that has attracted such support.”

Crane noted that BNRC’s leadership has been exceptionally stable since its founding in 1967.

“In George Wislocki, and Tad Ames, we’ve had just two leaders in 50 years,” he said. “Standing on the shoulders of George and Tad, our next leader has a wholly new horizon in view and will bring fresh energy and perspective.”

Crane said that Ames had informed him of his thinking in January of this year. He and Ames immediately focused their efforts to complete the capital campaign with its culmination to correspond with Ames’s announcement.

“By going out at the top of his game, Tad has framed a process of succession to be conducted with the wind at our backs,” Crane said.

Ames announced his decision to the staff and BNRC board of directors on May 1.

Crane said that BNRC’s search for its next president would start promptly.

For more information on Berkshire Natural Resources Council, visit www.bnrc.org.